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Equipment, chemicals & compliance testing Legionella risk assessments Water treatment consultancy 09 216 9824 | visentia.co.nz NATIONWIDE WATER TREATMENT SUPPORT CONTRACTING Active Refrigeration Proud to suppor t Ac t ive Ref r igerat ion Ltd 50 years of experience in the industrial and mechincal insulation industry PROUDLY SUPPORTING ACTIVE REFRIGERATION LTD FOR 25 YEARS Innovative Industrial Refrigeration Solutions Industrial Water Heating Solutions Using Natural Refrigerants – Ammonia & CO2 T T Rosa Watson Heat pump innovation takes giant strides The company worked alongside the Alliance Group to introduce the technology, deploying it in four of their South Island plants. “The Alliance equipment that we’ve installed is the largest of the installation categories the company has carried out.” Christchurch-based company, Active Refrigeration, is playing a major part in decarbonising the country’s primary industries with its high-temperature heat pump technology. The technology, which was shortlisted for a 2026 Energy Awards award, captures heat from a heat source – in most cases a refrigeration plant – and transfers that heat to another energy source process, such as hot water. “(It’s) transferring heat from a plant to a process at a high efficiency, and sometimes those efficiencies are touching 600 or 700%, so it’s a very efficient process in the right application,” says executive director, Craig Duff. He says the cornerstone of the innovation is to contribute to decarbonising efforts. “Instead of burning fossil fuels, like diesel, coal, or LPG, to generate heat, we are using electrical energy to generate that heat much more efficiently and cleaner.” The company worked alongside the Alliance Group to introduce the technology, deploying it in four of their South Island plants. “At two of those plants we’ve engineered a cascade water-heating system, whereby a first stage is used to gather low-grade heat from an existing refrigeration plant,” Craig says. The second stage of heating is used from an external heat source – the Mataura River in the case of Mataura, and Pukeuri pond in the case of the Pukeuri – to generate around about 55 degrees Celsius. The last stage is to use a primary refrigerant heat source to generate temperatures in excess of 75deg C for use on their plant. “And those plants are each five megawatts in size, so it’s large scale.” The company has carried out around 20 installations across New Zealand since the first one at a processing plant in Ashburton in 2012. “The Alliance equipment that we’ve installed is the largest of the installation categories the company has carried out, and is saving more than 50% of coal use on-site, which is significant. (New Zealand is) competing on a global scale. That carbon neutrality is desirable, and people want to see that clean, green approach,” Craig says. Active Refrigeration was started in Christchurch in 2000, and today specialises in refrigeration, servicing, maintenance, design and large-scale installation, operating throughout New Zealand. Services span installation and large-scale install work through to air-conditioning, commercial refrigeration, and now process heating. The group now also operates Advanced Building Services in Wellington, which specialises in tier 1 and tier 2 high-rise building work for all the associated mechanical services. The company has introduced centres of excellence within its workforce with all its trade training done in-house. “We have around 45 apprentices within the business, and we have been approved as a training provider to carry those folk through their apprenticeship,” says Craig. There is also a mentorship programme, with senior technicians working with learners throughout their apprenticeship. “We are trying to develop systems from within to make sure that the company remains innovative, but it supports that innovation through education, which is desperately needed. “We’re now approaching the heating industry, which has developed into a completely new sector for us, so we’ve had to develop training programmes, and also client training programmes. This is serving to place a now associated industry alongside typically a classic refrigeration industry.” Craig says the technology allows customers to promote efforts in decarbonising, while also reducing operational costs. “Which is very desirable on the world stage.” The meat industry is a good candidate for the tech, but other industries, such as fishing, dairy, food processing, market gardening, viticulture, brewing and poultry can also benefit, he says. “All of our primary industries, really, are ready for this technology as well.” The company’s nationwide presence allows not only access to installation, but also ongoing service and maintenance. “Anything food or beverage related, and large-scale air-conditioning, that’s where you’d find us.” Craig says to be shortlisted for the energy excellence awards for the Alliance Group projects was “amazing “. “That’s significant, because that’s just one plant of many. If we were to tabulate what we had actually done overall, it would be enormous, and I think that’s a real sense of pride.” The company has previously been recognised with awards in the energy and Health & Safety spaces, and has achieved ISO accreditations 14001 and 45001. “They’re not easy to achieve, and not easy to maintain, but they’re very important to us, and I think, to people who use us.”
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